CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati baseball team lost a 12-4 decision in the series finale against Villanova University on Sun. April 21 in BIG EAST Conference action at Marge Schott Stadium. UC won the first two games on Friday and Saturday to win the series.

With the loss, the Bearcats fall to 16-22 on the season and 4-11 in BIG EAST play. The Wildcats picked up a win to move to 10-28 and 2-10 in BIG EAST action.

Villanova broke the game open in the third with UC leading 1-0. The Wildcats scored seven runs on five hits and never looked back, adding single runs in the fourth and fifth and two runs in the seventh on the way to snapping a seven-game losing streak.

UC’s Justin Glass (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) finished the game with two hits and two RBI. Russell Clark (Wexford, Pa./Pine-Richland) added three hits and finished the week hitting .462 (6-13).

Bearcats starter Christian McElroy (Middletown, Ohio/Sinclair CC), one of five pitchers who saw action for the Bearcats Sunday, took the loss, going 2.1 innings and giving up two hits and four earned runs. Villanova starting pitcher Josh Harris went 7.2 innings and only allowed two earned runs to pick up the win.

The Bearcats got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the opener when Ethan McAlpine (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) lead off with a walk and moved to second on an groundout by Forrest Perron (Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville). McAlpine came around to score on a single by Glass.

The UC lead remained 1-0 until the top of the third inning when Villanova connected on five hits to score seven runs. The Wildcats led off the inning with a single and followed with two hit batters and a walk to take a 2-0 lead. McElroy was lifted in favor of Thomas Gentile (Westerville, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales) with the bases loaded and one out. The Wildcats followed with four hits to score five more runs before Gentile got a ground ball out to end the inning.

Villanova added a run to its lead in the fourth inning, but two doubles and a single put two more on the board for the Bearcats in the home half of the inning. Matt Williams (Mason, Ohio/Cincinnati Hills Christian) led off with a double and scored on a single from Clark. Two batters later, Woody Wallace (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) doubled for the RBI to close the lead to 8-3.

The Wildcats again added a run in the fifth, using a hit batsman and a passed ball to get a runner on second before a single by Connor Jones scored the runner and bring the score to 9-3.

VU increased the lead to 11-3 following two hits in the seventh after Grant Walker (Brookeville, Ohio/Northmount) entered to pitch for the Bearcats. Walker hit a batter to lead off the inning and allowed a triple two batters later. After forcing a groundout, the Wildcats got one more single to go ahead 11-3.

The Wildcats’ Max Beerman sent the first pitch of the ninth inning over the right field fence to give Villanova a 12-3 advantage. Right hander Andrew Strenge (Yardley, Pa./Holy Ghost Prep), who pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, responded to finish the ninth with no additional damage.

The Bearcats fought until the end, staging a comeback in the ninth, when Perron scored from second base on a single by Williams to bring the score to 12-4. It would not be enough, however, as pop foul ball ended the game.

The Bearcats will be back in action on Thurs., April 25 when they host Thomas Moore College at 6:30 p.m. at Marge Schott Stadium. The game was added to the schedule to replace the rainout against Dayton from April 16.